Kitty kept running. Seeing Matt crumble to the ground had shocked her, but when he suddenly grabbed the rifle, she froze with disbelief. His voice yelling, RUN, barely penetrated, but thank goodness her legs moved before her mind figured out what was happening. As she plowed through the underbrush, she heard gunshots continue, and knew Matt would keep shooting as long as he could, to keep the men distracted. Pumping her legs with all her strength she ran through the changing terrain, and suddenly realized the gunfire had stopped. Good lord, did that mean Matt was dead? She couldn't, wouldn't believe that. Matt was alive, he had to be, but the Taylors wouldn't give up, they'd be after her.
Lungs burning and legs turning to jelly, Kitty paused. Breathing hard she took in her surroundings. This far from camp the landscape was stark, and except for some scattered walnut trees, the area was open and flat. She'd be spotted right away, and there was no outrunning men on horseback. It seemed she was out of options. Her eyes fell on a walnut tree. She hadn't climbed a tree since she was a skinny girl of 8 or 9. Could a full figured, thirty something woman manage such a feat? Hoof beats were growing closer. No time to hesitate. Using two hands, she gripped the lowest branch of the tallest tree. Awkwardly but quickly, she moved her feet upwards against trunk clawing her way higher and higher, scratches and scrapes be damned. Settling on a high, full branch, she shrank as small as she could and held her breath. The men stormed into the clearing with Spike in the lead. Slowing their horses, they peered into the distance in every direction. Spike put a hand to his forehead to block out the sun. "No sign of her, and we'd see her for sure from here. I bet she's sneaky just like Dillon, and she circled back to camp. She's probably hiding in the bushes back there, hoping Dillon will be left alone so she can try to sneak in and free him."
The men nodded and muttered, "Smart thinking." One spoke up. "I wouldn't have thought of that Spike, none of us would." Spike puffed out his chest. "Let's head back."
High in the tree, barely daring to breath, Kitty watched and listened. When they mentioned Matt, relief washed over her. She was right, he was alive. She watched them gallop off. The sound of hooves faded. Still she didn't move. It was better to wait in case they change their minds and returned for another look. 10 minutes passed, then 15. All was quiet. Slowly and carefully, she inched her way down to the ground. What to do next was the question. Dodge City was a good 15 miles away. She was on foot and had no food or water. On the other hand maybe Spike's idea made a certain kind of sense. If she circled around back to camp, and managed to stay out of sight, she could keep an eye on Matt. He made things happen when he pretended to faint. Maybe she could make something happen too. She ran her palms up and down her thighs. Her legs were beyond tired but she didn't have to run back. She could take her time as long as she found a hiding place near camp before dark. With a plan sorts she started back, and felt crunching beneath her feet. She looked down and smiled. Walnuts from the tree of course. A little bit of nourishment was welcome. That tree had served her well.. She scooped up a handful of nuts and shoved them into her skirt pocket. Her hand hit something metal, Matt's badge. It seemed like a hundred years had passed, since she found the badge and note, and put them in her pocket. Taking them with her, made sense at the time. If someone decided to check her room, she didn't want them finding clues and coming after her. If only she knew. She felt around in her pocket. Oddly the note gone. It must have fallen out somewhere along the way. The note that sent her on this deadly path was gone, never to be seen again. She cracked open a walnut, and shook the contents into her mouth. With a deep breath and a determined nod, she started circling back to the Taylors' camp.
The Camp
Handling him less than gently, Marlene and John tended Matt's wounded shoulder. Marlene got the bleeding to stop, wrapped on a bandage and tied it off. "Your bullet killed Carl Taylor, and all you got was a bullet through the shoulder. You got no right to be alive, Dillon, but we sure as hell can't have you die thinking Kitty got away. She'll get dragged back, and what you're gonna watch will be worse than dying." Marlene got to her feet. "John, see to his back." Without a word, John picked up a bucket and splashed water across the Matt raw and badly beaten back The lawman gasped. Marlene shrugged. "We can't have you dying of an infection either. Hold on - I hear the men coming back. They'll have Kitty with them."
Marlene and John watched the men ride in. Their faces dropped, Kitty wasn't there. John angrily strode over to the men, and crossed his arms in front of him. "Where is she? Don't tell me you let her get away." Spike climbed down from his horse and looked John in the eye. "We didn't see her, and we rode all the way out to the big clearing. From there, you can see for miles in every direction, and there was no sign of her. I figure she thought she'd be smart, so she circled back here to help her man. She's likely hiding somewhere right around here. We'll find her in the morning."
John clenched his jaw. "Not in the morning, NOW. Keep looking until you find her, even if it takes all night."
The bigger, broader man calmly shook his head. "Nope, right now we are going to pay our respects to our fallen cousin, Craig, and give him a proper burial. After we do right by Craig, me and the others are gonna get some grub and some rest. That red-head is around here somewhere, and she ain't goin' nowhere as long as we have Dillon."
Marlene watched the argument, and saw how the men were looking at Spike – the respect in their eyes. She strolled over and looked up at him. "You're talking smart, Spike." He smiled at her. "Thank you Marlene, and let's remember that Kitty wouldn't have gotten away, if Johnny there, hadn't set his rifle down right next to Dillon. A lot of us think a man who makes mistakes like that shouldn't be giving orders." With a nod to Marlene, Spike walked away and motioned the men to gather around.
Sitting off to the side, Matt cradled his wounded arm, and watched the scene with interest. The way Marlene looked at Spike wasn't lost on him, neither was the anger and jealousy written on John Taylor's face. But where the heck was Kitty? Did she really circle back?
Dodge City
Spurs jangling with every stride, Festus hurried to the stable hoping Moss could clear up the mystery of Miss Kitty's whereabouts. He pushed through the door and saw the craggy faced stableman tending a horse. "Say Moss, can I jaw with ya a minute?" Moss continued working. "Sure Festus, and while I'm thinking of it, I'm getting a craps game together for tonight. Come join us, we want to teach young Tommy how to play."
"Sure, sure, but I got a reason fur bein' here now. It's about Miss Kitty. Ya see nobody's seen hide nor hair of her today, and some o' us are gettin' worried. Matthew ain't in town to figure it all out, so's I'm doing the askin'. Now I figure it likely Miss Kitty went off to see a friend like Mrs. Ronniger, or the widow Maylee an' little Mary. Ta do somthin' like that she'd have ta borrow a rig or maybe a horse from this here stable. Did she?"
"Well, Miss Kitty hasn't borrowed a horse for quite some time now. When she wants to go off visiting, she borrows a rig. But she didn't borrow one today or even in the past week." Moss stopped working and looked at Festus. "If she didn't travel out of town, she's gotta be somewhere in it. She can't just have disappeared."
"You're right Moss, an' I'm gonna check every last corner of Dodge, and ask every single person here if they seen her. Me and Sam will even check her room. I aim to find her, or figure out where she went to. To put it plain Moss, I'm worried."
Moss put a hand on his friend's arm. "Festus, I'm sure she's fine. She's just been busy doing lady things. I'll see you later at the craps game."
"Sure Moss, see ya later." Festus walked out of the stable, worry etched deep in his face.
TBC